Miami’s Title Hopes Blitzed

Blitzing on almost every play, Georgia Tech was in Kyle Wright’s face all night. And when he threw the ball up for grabs with the game on the line, the Yellow Jackets were there too.

They sacked Wright seven times and made two late defensive stands, intercepting his final pass to upset the third-ranked Miami Hurricanes, 14-10, on Saturday night.

“Not anyone believed it could happen,” Georgia Tech Coach Chan Gailey said.

KaMichael Hall had two sacks and made a fourth-down stop to end a Miami threat midway through the fourth quarter. Wright moved the Hurricanes 62 yards to the Georgia Tech 27 with 1 minute 46 seconds left before his final pass was intercepted by Dennis Davis, and the Yellow Jackets ran out the clock.

“With any quarterback, if we keep pressuring him, he’s eventually going to fold,” defensive end Eric Henderson said.

The Hurricanes (8-2, 5-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) were eliminated from contention for a berth in the national championship game. They lost for the first time since the season opener at Florida State.

“We played about as bad as we could have played,” said Wright, who threw for five scores a week ago at Wake Forest but managed just one touchdown pass against the Yellow Jackets. “They were doing things we prepared for. They just did a good job of doing it.”

The Hurricanes’ loss could keep them out of the ACC title game Dec. 3 in Jacksonville. If Virginia Tech beats North Carolina next weekend, the Hokies will represent the Coastal Division against Florida State, with the winner earning a berth in the bowl championship series.

Georgia Tech (7-3, 5-3) shook off an NCAA decision this week to place the school on two years’ probation for using 17 academically ineligible athletes in four sports, including 11 in football.